Kitchen Prep + Cooking Guide
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Intro
I often find that clients I work with have a hard time with cooking and preparing their own meals at home. I believe this correlates with the symptoms they’re experiencing and why they are seeing me in the first place. Here is the bottom-line: if you want to be healthy, energetic, and free-from disease, you must attend to each of the fundamental pillars of health: spirituality, mindset/stress, nutrition, movement, sleep, hydration, detox, digestion, relationships, and purpose. When it comes to nutrition, there is no way around it.. you must eat real, unprocessed, whole food meals.. ideally made from quality ingredients. That comes first and foremost. Then we can get into the more nuanced discussions about exactly what to eat, how to eat, etc. But if you don’t get this basic fundamental in place, it is very difficult to experience good health because 99% of the convenience foods are not health promoting (even the organic stuff).
So how do you eat real, unprocessed food? You must prepare/cook your food at home using fresh/real ingredients, the way we all used to do before the modern conveniences of commercial food products, restaurants, pre-made on-the-go meals, etc. It’s a hard truth to swallow for many people. They would say they are too busy, or don’t like to cook. The reality is nobody is too busy, they simply do not prioritize food, and so they’ve become used to relying on the plethora of modern food conveniences to cover their hunger needs. You are not too busy to do half the things you fill up your time/attention/energy with that are far less important than nourishing your body properly. We’ve just become too ingrained in the habit of reaching for the easiest solution that will resolve our hunger so we can get back to doing whatever it is we fill up our time/energy/attention with. It’s almost like food is an inconvenience, something that gets in our way of living.
So basically there is no way around it. This guide is designed to make that process as easy and enjoyable as possible. I’m not out to make your life more difficult. I do insist that you prepare your own food using real/whole ingredients, but I will be the first to suggest every trick and tip in the book to make this journey minimally stressful. I’ve done my best here to highlight all of the tips, please read through each and every tip. Arguably each one could deserve further discussion, so if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask me and we can work through it together.
Tip: it might be a good idea to print out this document and put a check mark next to each item as you go through and execute each of the suggestions (some are of course optional).
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Kitchen reset
The first thing you’ll want to do after reading through this guide is to do a full reset of your kitchen. This means deep cleaning, organizing, throwing out, restocking, decorating, etc. This will give you a fresh start and set the intention for new beginnings. Here are some tips:
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Deep cleaning - do a full on clean of your entire kitchen. Use only natural cleaning products and keep your windows open for ventilation. Empty all the cabinets, pantries, and refrigerator/freeze to allow yourself easy access to clean thoroughly. Clean in all areas/nooks you don’t normally get to as well (including the floors). Use a duster to clean in higher areas/surfaces/corners. If you have a smudge stick such as palo santo or sage, use it in all corners of the kitchen and ask source to help make this kitchen a sanctuary for health, joy, connection and love. Put some music on and enjoy this process!
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Restocking - before putting back all of your food items, start to reassess each one for its quality. If it’s processed, low-quality, or old you want to throw it out. I would also look at your spices and oils. If anything is old or non-organic, you’ll want to throw those out as well. Remember as mentioned in the grocery shopping guide, you don’t want to ever use any seed oil, so toss any oils which are not recommended in the guide. You may need help with this step so feel free to reach out to me for any questions on a particular food item. Remember, the goal is to eat real, whole foods. That means we want minimal food that is in a can or package. Those are mostly processed foods. However I do acknowledge the need for certain high-quality organic packaged foods and 100% approve of their use to make the cooking process easier. Examples include tomato paste, vegetable broth, coconut milk, lemon juice, chia/flax seeds, certain condiments, certain snacks like olives/beef jerky/seaweed, etc.
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Repairing - go through the kitchen and assess anything that needs repairing. This could be loose cabinet doors, hooks that have fallen off the wall, broken lights, missing knobs on appliances, etc.
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Lighting - assess the lighting in the kitchen and make sure it is to your liking. If it is not bright enough, consider upgrading the bulbs to a higher wattage. I always have a preference for warm lighting with incandescent or halogen bulbs (healthier, but uses more energy). However sometimes kitchens and bathrooms are good spaces to use daylight lighting, which is more white in appearance. Never use “cool blue” or blue lighting. If you have overhead cabinets, one really nice look that gives your kitchen a nice feel is under cabinet “ambient” lighting that will be hidden and illuminate your countertops very nicely. LED kits can be purchased online and hooked up with switches so it’s easy to turn on. If you feel to, you can even get some cheap LED fairy lights and sting them over a certain area in or near the kitchen to add to the vibe.
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Vibe - you want to make the kitchen a nice place to be. You should enjoy the aesthetic look and feel of it. Look around and get creative on ways you can brighten up the place with more color. If needed, maybe even consider giving it a fresh coat of low-voc paint. Low maintenance plants are great as well. Or even better, grow some sprouts right on your counter (it’s far easier than you think!). Also adding some sort of music set up like a bluetooth speaker is also a great way to liven up the vibe as you cook.
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Kitchen essentials
This section will describe all the basic tools/items you need to set up your kitchen to support your cooking needs and make it easier/stress free.
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Spice rack - I like having all my spices organized on a nice spick rack and well labeled so I can easily find what I’m looking for. Here is one option. If you have the counter space, put this rack on your counter so you’re inspired to create and flavor your food with different spices. You can keep the most common ones out on the rack and put the rare ones organized and labeled neatly in one of your cabinets. Remember to discard old spices and only keep high quality organic spices. This includes quality sea salt such as Redmond’s real salt or Celtic sea salt. Many natural food stores will carry organic spices in bulk bins, so you can refill your jars and take as much as you want (much cheaper this way).
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Cutting boards - get a variety of high quality cutting boards. It’s nice to have one small one for cutting quick/small things like fruit, and a couple larger ones so you can cook together with someone else. I like using wooden cutting boards, but you can buy plastic/composite as well which are lighter. Just be sure to swap those out when they start to shred as you don’t want to be getting plastic pieces in your food. Also it’s a good idea to keep these somewhere easily accessible as you will be using them every time you cook. You can either stack these vertically in a corner on your counter if you have the space, or use a wall mounted rack like this one (use high quality wall anchors so it’s sturdy).
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Knives - you’ll want a good set of sharp knives. If you have a very old set, consider buying a new one. This should include at least a couple wider chef’s knives. They should be organized neatly in a knife block that sits on your counter. Also have a way of sharpening these knives regularly. Having sharp knives is an amazing thing which makes cooking easier and safer. Either get a nice sharpening rod and learn how to use it, or get one of the many knife sharpener tools you can find online (make sure it has good reviews and is easy to use).
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Soft mats - consider purchasing a couple soft “anti-fatigue” mats for areas you stand the most often (kitchen sink, cutting area, stovetop area). They make being in the kitchen less tiring on your feet/legs/back.
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Dishwashing - there is nothing wrong with using a dishwasher for most of your dish washing needs if you prefer, however I do believe it is beneficial to have a good setup to wash/dry dishes manually. This is especially useful for items that need to be reused often. Get a good soap dispenser and keep it filled with a good soap that lathers well and is concentrated for washing dishes. If this is not a natural/gentle soap, then get a separate one that’s for washing hands. Keep extra for each soap under your sink cabinet so you always have it on hand. Also buy a pack of quality sponges with a scour side. Keep extras under your sink as well. Only use scour when needed, and as lightly as required to get the job done as it can damage delicate surfaces easily, especially pots/pans with a non-stick coating. A bottle brush is also a nice thing to keep on hand. For your drying rack, many of them rust and are not of great quality, but honestly you don’t need to spend much here. If you want to spend for a high quality one, I can recommend this one. I also think it’s worthwhile to invest in a quality kitchen faucet with a pullout hose that has a button to switch to spray. It makes cleanup much easier when you can hot pre-rinse most of the grime off (which saves your sponge). It’s also useful to quickly rinse things like your blender container so you don’t have to fully scrub it down every single time. Finally while we are on the subject, I would also recommend getting a garbage disposal installed in your kitchen sink drain. It makes life so much easier when you don’t have to worry about food particles clogging the drain and then having to empty/clean it every time. It’s especially recommended if you are juicing and cleaning the juicer parts each day.
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Pots/pans - you want to reassess all your pots and pans and consider tossing any that have a worn/scratched non-stick coating (leaches toxic chemicals into your food). If you are going to buy something with a non-stick coating again, you want to buy something higher quality (more expensive). Avoid anything teflon, aluminum, PFOA, PTFE, or traditional non-stick. There are some toxic-free ceramic coatings that are intriguing (such as this one or this one or this one), but no-one can truly verify their long-term safety. If you are going this route, make sure you always always use non-stick safe cooking utensils (wooden are a good option too), never stack them on top of one another unless you put something soft in between, never use a scour sponge unless absolutely necessary and with light pressure (always soak in soapy water first before resorting to scour), and never put a hot pan directly under water as the rapid temperature change also weakens the non-stick coating. Otherwise, the safest cooking options are cast iron and stainless steel. With cast iron, some say to use an older/used one instead of buying brand new as the newer ones can leach some metals. They are easier to use than you think once you get the hang of oiling/seasoning it properly and knowing how to clean it. It also cooks food very evenly, can be used in an oven, and will last forever. They are quite heavy though. With stainless steel, you want to learn how to heat it to the right temperature so that it doesn’t stick to food with minimal oil. With both of these options, it is not a good idea to cook with more acidic things like tomatoes as this can break down the metals which leech into the food. So you can see it’s good to have multiple options on hand. For the oven, glass, Corningware, stoneware, and cast dutch ovens are safe options. Avoid aluminum for baking sheets unless you always cover it with something like non-bleached parchment paper.
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Cooking utensils - get a nice set of non-toxic cooking utensils, and keep them out on the counter in a wide utensil holder for easy/quick access. Wooden ones are the best option. Try to avoid plastic, and if you are to use non-wooden utensils that are safe on non-stick surfaces, use non-toxic silicone. You’ll want a good variety for different scenarios (different sized spoons with and without holes, spatula, ladle, spatula/scraper, brush, whisk, tongs, etc). Never leave any utensil in the pot/pan while it’s hot. For this, it’s a good idea to get a spoon rest so you have somewhere to put it when you’re not holding it.
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Food storage - No more storing things in plastic! Get a nice set of glass/pyrex tupperware. Lids can be made of plastic. I like the lids that click on all four sides. You’ll want a number of these in different sizes for your meal prepping, which I will recommend and describe later in this document. Another option in addition to this is to get a Pyrex mixing bowl set that comes with lids. This can be used for both food prep and storing larger batches of food like soups or stews. Wide-mouth mason jars also are very versatile and can be used to store foods (like nuts/seeds). Plastic lids are okay for those for easier/quicker closing. Avoid plastic ziplock bags for storing food. Instead you can get a few reusable food-safe silicone zip bags.
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Vegetable storage - some people like having reusable vegetable bags for shopping/storing, others are fine with just using the disposable ones the produce section has. That is up to you. A better recommendation here is to get Debbie Myers Green Bags, which keeps produce fresher for much longer. You don’t have to use them for everything, but they are particularly useful for delicate herbs/veggies that go off quickly (seriously it’s pretty amazing).
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Towels - get a nice set of towels. One set should be to dry/clean your hands (nicer and more aesthetic) and another cheaper set to wipe down the counter surfaces with water and a little soap. Keep enough so you can regularly rotate them in and out as the dirty ones go in the wash. It’s also a good idea to have a paper towel roll holder for the few times you’ll want to clean up a mess and not have to use a wet rag, clean it, then hang to dry. Get the rolls with the “select-a-size” so they last longer.
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Misc cooking aids - here are a few suggestions for some other kitchen essentials that are good to have and make cooking easier: a nice measuring spoon set (magnetic are great), mixing bowls (stainless steel are great, lightweight), colander, can opener, garlic crusher, lemon juicer, microplane, vegetable peeler, grater block, wine bottle opener, fruit bowl (fruit, onions, garlic, etc), collapsible steamer basket.
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Consumables - here are few suggestions for some consumable products to keep on hand to make life easier: non-bleached parchment paper, reusable silicone zip bags, cling wrap (for quick covering), garbage bags (non-scented), all-purpose cleaning spray (natural or make your own).
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Kitchen gadgets
Here I will recommend some commonly used kitchen gadgets that will make life easier and expand your capabilities to make a wider variety of foods/recipes. These are completely optional so don’t feel that you have to get everything all at once.
Blender - I believe smoothies should be a staple for someone who wants to get a lot of easy to digest nutrients with little effort to prepare. I personally think it’s worthwhile to invest in a high quality blender like a Vitamix, which will be handy for so many uses other than just smoothies. Once you try it, you won’t go back. But even if you don’t want to spend $ here, at least get a cheaper powerful bottle style blender, like ones Ninja makes. Always leave the blender out on your kitchen counter to encourage more use.
Tip: Remember to never blend longer than is required to get the desired consistency. The longer you blend, the more it damages the food.
Instant pot - this gadget is a game changer for making easy meals in bulk. It’ll make any grains, beans, soups, bone broths, stews and more. There are numerous recipe books dedicated to cooking in the instant pot. All you do is toss the ingredients in, mix, close the lid and select an appropriate setting. It does it quickly as well because it doubles as a pressure cooker. I cannot recommend any specific brand here, just make sure the reviews are good, the features are good, and the capacity allows you to make enough to bulk store for the week. Some people like to just get the “Instant Pot” brand because many recipes online reference the exact setting unique to this popular model.
Juicer - if you have any sort of serious condition such as cancer, I would highly recommend getting a juicer and committing to juicing at least once per day. This is a fantastic way to get much needed nutrients to the body without needing to eat or digest food, which is especially important when the gut is compromised. For this I would recommend a slow-masticating juicer as this is the best to preserve the live nutrients in the vegetables. For more tips on juicing along with recipes, refer to this juicing guide.
Hot water kettle - since I also encourage people to cut back on their coffee habit, I think having an electric hot water kettle is a fantastic addition to keep on your kitchen counter. It’s useful for making teas (ceremonial grade matcha is my favorite) and any other situation where you need to heat water quickly. Read the reviews and make sure it is one that truly heats the water quickly.
Tip: run the kettle with something acidic like lemon juice and a little water to clean the base of your kettle every now and then.
Food processor - the more you get into cooking, the more you’ll find yourself needing a food processor to make certain recipes (like hummus). It’s super easy to use and clean up, especially if you get a basic one.
Electric whisk - if you’ve never used an electric whisk/frother, it is a fantastic/cheap tool to have on hand. Not only will it froth hot drinks and make them taste better, it’s incredibly useful to perfectly mix any powder into a liquid in seconds, which is good if you play with a lot of powdered supplements as I do. This is one I have and can recommend. When you’re done just rinse under the sink and hang back up in its holder. I also suggest having high quality rechargeable batteries on hand (for many purposes) so it’s always ready to go.
Mandoline slicer - if you want to make your ingredient prep easier, and have perfectly even cut veggies every time, this is an amazing/cheap tool to have on hand. I don’t have a specific one to recommend, so just make sure the reviews are good and it is easy to clean. Also make sure it has a good holder for the vegetables, because many people can cut their fingers on a mandoline without the proper use of a holder.
Cooking tips
Keep it simple, start slow - I know this document has a lot of information, but don’t let it overwhelm you. The best way to make the transition away from always eating out or reaching for pre-made processed foods is to keep it simple and start slow. It’s okay if you just snack on single ingredients like nuts, berries, a boiled egg or beef jerky.. or if some of your meals are just a bunch of ingredients thrown together onto one plate. Or if you have a smoothie for one of your meals. Who cares? Nobody is judging you here. Sometimes we have to return back to the basics and just appreciate the nourishment that comes with eating simple, clean, whole-foods. Eating in this way is light-years ahead of the way most people eat. Over time you will get more advanced and complex with flavors, but it may take months if not years. So don’t rush here, just start by eating real food and know that you’re already making massive progress by doing all the other things we talk about like learning how to eat, taking your digestive aids, hydrating better, getting out in the sun, etc.
Making time for cooking - now you can see I’m trying my hardest to show you all the ways to ease into this and make the process as simple as possible. But still I know people will resist having to do this on top of their already busy lives. We now know all the reasons why taking the time to prepare our own food is non-negotiable, so it helps to surrender to that fact completely rather than resist it. You will naturally find ways to adjust how you spend your time/energy/attention to make way for cooking once you fully commit to making it a priority. What matters most is your mindset going into it. I promise you will learn to appreciate the process more if you allow yourself the opportunity to be patient through the adjustment/learning period. I know it’s difficult to undo decades-long habits of caving into food conveniences, but we have more than enough evidence to know the damage cheap/quick foods do to our health. It also helps to put things into perspective a little. It is an incredible privilege and blessing to be able to have access to an infinite variety of high quality whole foods. Most people in the world do not have this privilege, even in 2023. But we do. There’s amazing farmers markets, natural food stores, online shopping, etc. We should not take all that for granted. This already makes things easy enough for us, we don’t need to always indulge in the further convenience of pre-prepared processed foods. The genuine gratitude that comes from remembering this fact should be more than enough to overcome all our complaints about having to cook our own food.
Knife skills - essentially all food you cook will require you to cut/prepare your ingredients, so there is no way around having to do this. You will develop your knife skills over time, so start slow and don’t get frustrated. In time I promise this step won’t be intimidating and it will turn into a relaxing meditative experience. There are many videos on YouTube that will show you how to chop all the different vegetables, as each one often requires a different technique. I suggest looking up a few of these videos, so that you are doing things the right way from the beginning. How to dice an onion is a great place to start. And as always, get quality cutting boards, knives, and make sure you learn how to sharpen those knives regularly.
Cooking temperature - you always want to cook with the lowest temperature possible for health. The higher the temperature, the more it will damage the chemistry of the food/oils and create cancerous compounds. On the stove, this means not going above medium heat. If you have a gas stove, you’ll want to actually look at the flame because many medium settings are still too strong a flame. You’ll also want to modulate the heat as you go, as most often you’ll want to back off the heat after the initial sautéing is done and you’re in simmer mode. In the oven, this means not going above 400F (204C). If your oven has a convection setting, this will allow you to get away with a little less temperature (25-50F/4-10C). Grilling and frying are the two least healthy ways to prepare food, so avoid as much as possible. Slow cooking, steaming, pressure cooking, and braising are some of the healthier cooking methods (hence why I recommend an instant pot, which can do all of those).
Recipes/cookbooks - I highly recommend starting off by using recipes/cookbooks for inspiration and learning how to cook. I’m always happy to provide you with recipes that are healthy and easy to make, but at some point you’ll want to develop the skill to take any recipe you find online and know exactly how to modify it for true health. Remember, the vast majority of well meaning people are still misinformed as to what “healthy” really means when it comes to food. For example, 99% still believe saturated fat/cholesterol is bad, we need to cut calories, etc. So use your own discernment with everything we learn together. You’ll want to adjust things like the quality of ingredients they use (organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed, extra-virgin, cold/expeller pressed, etc). You’ll want to stay away from any recipe that calls for a processed food as one of the ingredients, such as a condiment (Ex: sriracha). Certain ones are okay like pre-packaged vegetable broths and tomato paste. Just get as high quality as possible. If they call for a certain oil, refer back to the grocery shopping guide and know what oils are appropriate to substitute. Most recipes are often too high in grains/sugar/starchy carbohydrates, so you’ll want to adjust that as well for more non-starchy vegetables, good fats, and good meats. As always, ask me for help on this and we can practice modifying recipes together until you get the hang of it.
Stock your kitchen - I’m a big fan of finding ways to stock your pantries, refrigerator, freezer, deep freezer, etc with high quality ingredients that you use frequently. You will start to realize the most common things that are in most recipes (or foods you like to eat). Once you do, always keep extras of these ingredients on hand. This way you are less likely to need to run out to the grocery store every time you want to make something and run out of ingredients, which will greatly reduce the burden of cooking. You’ll also then have the luxury of waiting for certain items to go on sale and only picking them up when you see them discounted, even if you didn’t need that item right away. Here are some suggestions for staples to stock/always have on hand: frozen meats, frozen fish, frozen veggies, frozen berries for smoothies, vegetable stock, coconut milk, canned salmon/sardines, extra oils (store cold), butter, low sugar fruits, lemon juice, ginger juice, canned beans, etc.
Meal prepping - this is the number #1 way to make life easier when it comes to making your own food. There are many guides on how to do this online, but the basic premise is that you pick a day which you have more time, and spend an hour or two making food for the week and storing it in individual containers so that all you have to do is grab the container and reheat it on the stove or oven. If you do this with a couple different recipes, you’ll have enough variety to then eat around when you want something different. Some other ideas related to this basic premise would be to have a large Tupperware full of pre-chopped raw veggies that you can then eat along with a simple but delicious homemade dipping sauce. You can use this to snack on or add alongside any of your meals. In general, anytime you take time to make a recipe, consider doubling or even tripling it so that you have extra ready to go in a Tupperware for later.
Meal addons/toppers - there are a number of things you can add to any of your meals that can increase the nutrition and make the meal more complex. Here are some ideas you can add on the side or on top of any meal: sauerkraut/kimchi, olives, canned fish, diced avocado, pre-cut raw veggies (as mentioned above), a handful of spinach (easy to add a bunch at the end of any hot food on the stove to wilt down), handful of homegrown sprouts, kelp/dulse granules, sprouted pumpkin/sunflower seeds, extra-virgin olive oil, pumpkin seed oil, etc.
Plan ahead - making a weekly meal plan can be very helpful to organize and reduce some of the anxiety around knowing what to eat in the moments you are hungry. If you sit down to do this once, you can schedule in all of the things we talk about that are good to eat for your body and you’ll feel good knowing that you’re getting in all the nutrients to help you heal and thrive. Then each day, you know exactly what you are going to have at each meal, and can even prepare the meals ahead of time so it’s ready to go when you’re hungry. Once you create one, you’ll find ways to refine it to make it even more delicious and nutrient dense. Then you can always create a 2nd plan which would give you more than enough variety to live off of for many months before getting bored. I also do this for a lot of clients, so if you ever want help with making one, just let me know!
Cook for another - it always gives me extra motivation to cook something if I know it is being shared with someone else. This can be a random thing for a neighbor, something for your family members, or something to take to a party. You’ll feel good doing it and you’ll be more likely to take more time to get the recipe tasting real good, which will level up your abilities to make amazing food for yourself.
Watching cooking shows - when I started out with cooking, it was very inspirational to watch cooking shows that incidentally taught me different cooking techniques as well as gave me inspiration to try making different things. Now keep in mind, most cooking shows will often feature unhealthy food, made in unhealthy ways, but that’s why you are becoming an expert now on how to adapt any recipe to support your health. Some of my favorites are Gordon Ramsay on YouTube as well as his show Uncharted on Disney.
Grocery shopping - believe it or not, there is nuisance to grocery shopping properly. Read through this guide I’ve made to get more tips on how to grocery shop more effectively.
About The Author
Firoze Mehta is a Nutrition Therapist Master and Certified Hippocrates Health Educator® specializing in helping people with cancer. Whatever the health condition, Firoze helps others to learn the truth about health and disease, while providing the guidance and support of a personal coach. If you're interested in learning more, click here.